Three young English players to watch in 2008

My three would be-

Chris Jordan- 19 year old fast bowler from Surrey, tallish, capable of 85mph+, useful number 8, 9 batsman. Athlete. This season could be when he has to decide once and for all whether to commit himself to his adopted home England, or his native home the West Indies.

Steve Finn- Tall quickie in the Stuart Broad mould. 19 years old, already 6'8, no great pace yet (about 80 mph) but lots of promise. England's stand out under 19's player of the last 12-18 months.

Moeen Ali- Only 20, but he's been around for quite a while already. Left handed batsman, Lots of talent, but didn't get many opportunities at Warwickshire. Moved to Worcs last season and smashed a century off 49 balls in a one day match.

So, what three young English players do you think will make a mark this coming season?

Do they all come from SA?

Henry wrote:My three would be-

Chris Jordan- 19 year old fast bowler from Surrey, tallish, capable of 85mph+, useful number 8, 9 batsman. Athlete. This season could be when he has to decide once and for all whether to commit himself to his adopted home England, or his native home the West Indies.

Steve Finn- Tall quickie in the Stuart Broad mode. 19 years old, already 6'8, no great pace yet (about 80 mph) but lots of promise. England's stand out under 19's player of the last 12-18 months.

Moeen Ali- Only 20, but he's been around for quite a while already. Left handed batsman, Lots of talent, but didn't get many opportunities at Warwickshire. Moved to Worcs last season and smashed a century off 49 balls in a one day match.

So, what three young English players do you think will make a mark this coming season?

I can't disagree with any of those really (although Ali likes to throw his wicket away too much). They are all 2-3 years off of a potential international place...

Also continue to keep an eye on Billy Godleman & James Harris

Can't argue with any of the 5. I'm lobbing in Alex Wakely too. Stylish and gritty runs for us last year. Still seemed a bit young despite the cool head under pressure. Useful dobbers. Decent fielder. England Under-19 Captain.

Not seen enough of Wakely aside from a duck on TV last year to make any sort of judgement.

Also, I want to see James Hildreth kick on. He should be getting some big scores at Taunton at this stage of his career.

Virun Chopra is another young batsman with a lot of promise. And of course, lets not forget Ravi Bopara.

Henry wrote:Virun Chopra is another young batsman with a lot of promise. And of course, lets not forget Ravi Bopara.

Chopra isn't half the player Ravi is IMO, and even Ravi will have plenty to do to gain further international honours.

JKLever wrote:Not seen enough of Wakely aside from a duck on TV last year to make any sort of judgement.

Also, I want to see James Hildreth kick on. He should be getting some big scores at Taunton at this stage of his career.

No, fair do's Bruce. He's got a lot to live up to though, if half the papers, Wisden, Cricinfo et al keep touting him.

I will be watching Jordan with great interest. It will be fascinating to see how he develops this year. For example, will he finally show his batting talent as I know he can bat a lot better than he has shown so far.

A mention for Stephen Davies - time to turn his potential into something more substantial. He opens in the one-day stuff, so he could be a competitor for Phil Mustard in the ODI side

Hopefully Davies has got his bad season out of the way early in his career and can now go on and push for senior honours.

Denly?

Liam Dawson
Mark Footitt
James Harris

Augustus wrote:Liam Dawson
Mark Footitt
James Harris

Is Footit injured again?

Yeah. Misses the first three weeks or so of the season (at least ). He's a fine prospect, but he'll probably never get anywhere because of his injuries. It's a shame because he has been class in the few games he has played.

Footitt was one of my 3 to watch about 3 years ago!

'Sturat' Broad was one of the others, wasn't he JK?

Derbyshire: Daniel Redfern and Rikki Clarke (!).
Durham: Ben Harmison, Graham Onions, Liam Plunkett and Mark Stoneman.
Essex: Tom Westley, Mervyn Westfield and Maurice Chambers.
Glamorgan: James Harris and Huw Waters.
Gloucs: Vikram Banerjee?
Hants: Now that Warne has jacked it in, SLA all-rounder Liam Dawson might get a run.
Kent: Joe Denly, Neil Dexter and Sam Northeast.
Lancashire: Steven Croft and Gareth Cross.
Leicestershire: No-one.
Middlesex: Billy Godleman and Steven Finn.
Northants: Alex Wakely, Mark Nelson and Graeme White.
Nottinghamshire: Mark Footitt and Samit Patel.
Somerset: James Hildreth, Craig Kieswetter and Michael Munday.
Surrey: Chris Jordan and Stuart Meaker.
Sussex: Luke Wright.
Warwickshire: No-one springs to mind.
Worcs: Moeen Ali and Steven Davies.
Yorskhire: Adil Rashid, Mark Lawson and Tim Bresnan.

There you go - a bunch of young cricketers to keep an eye out for, some more established than others.

Augustus wrote:Yeah. Misses the first three weeks or so of the season (at least ). He's a fine prospect, but he'll probably never get anywhere because of his injuries. It's a shame because he has been class in the few games he has played.

He had the dreaded ankle spur operation a year or so back - and we know only too well that there can be a few false-starts in the recovery phase from that injury.

As a like-for-like with Sidebottom, who will be playing for England all summer, Footitt has a chance to really establish himself in the Notts team. Fitness permitting.

Tom Smith at Lancashire seemed to have a quiet year last season - otherwise he would surely have gone on the Lions tour.

Second-season syndrome for Tom Smith last year.

With Flintoff and possibly Anderson and Mahmood on international duty again for much of the summer, Smith should get the chance to force his way back in.

He looks like Peter Krause from Six Feet Under and Dirty Sexy Money.

lardbucket wrote:'Sturat' Broad was one of the others, wasn't he JK?

Yep, can't remember the other tbh...

The other was Davies if memory serves.

Dello wrote:Second-season syndrome for Tom Smith last year.

With Flintoff and possibly Anderson and Mahmood on international duty again for much of the summer, Smith should get the chance to force his way back in.

He looks like Peter Krause from Six Feet Under and Dirty Sexy Money.

Needs a yard extra of pace though, was about 78mph for much of last year. Batting should progress too...
He was in the same U19 as Broad if I remember - always thought there was a touch of the Brian McMillan about his bowling style

Lara Lara Laughs wrote:The other was Davies if memory serves.

Aye, well remembered...